National Council of Teachers of Mathematics

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The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) was founded in 1920. It has grown to be the world's largest organization concerned with mathematics education, having close to 100,000 members across the USA and Canada, and internationally.

1 NCTM Standards
2 2006 Curriculum Focal Points
3 References
4 External links
- 4.1 Proponents
- 4.2 Critics

[edit] NCTM Standards

NCTM has published a series of math Standards outlining a vision for school mathematics in the USA and Canada. In 1989 NCTM developed the Curriculum and Evaluation Standards for School Mathematics followed by the Professional Standards for Teaching Mathematics (1991), and the Assessment Standards for School Mathematics (1995). In 2000 NCTM released the updated Principles and Standards for School Mathematics. These math standards were widely lauded by education officials, and the National Science Foundation funded several projects to develop curricula consistent with recommendations of the standards. A number of these programs were cited by the Department of Education as "exemplary".

Principles and Standards provides a vision of mathematics learning and teaching that embraces both skill and understanding in five content areas and highlights the need for students to both learn and apply mathematics at all grade levels.

The NCTM Standards, while supported by many, also attracted critics, such as Mathematically Correct, which includes a contingent of vocal mathematicians, as opposed to math teachers and educators. This organization raised strong objections to textbooks that focused on conceptual and skill development over rote memorization.

[edit] 2006 Curriculum Focal Points

In September 2006, NCTM released Curriculum Focal Points for Prekindergarten through Grade 8 Mathematics: A Quest for Coherence. These focal points present the most important mathematical topics for each grade level and comprise related ideas, concepts, skills, and procedures that form the foundation for understanding and lasting learning.

Mathematics curricula in the United States are often described as “a mile wide and an inch deep” when compared with curricula from other countries. State content expectations per grade level range from anywhere between 26 and 89 topics. At just three per grade, the focal points offer more than headings for long lists, providing instead descriptions of the most significant mathematical concepts and skills at each grade level and identifying important connections to other topics. Organizing a curriculum around these described focal points, with a clear emphasis on the processes that Principles and Standards addresses in the Process Standards—communication, reasoning, representation, connections, and, particularly, problem solving—can provide students with a connected, coherent, ever expanding body of mathematical knowledge and ways of thinking.

Curriculum Focal Points for Prekindergarten through Grade 8 Mathematics thus represents an important, initial step in advancing collaborative discussions about what mathematics students should know and be able to do.